Killer won’t get day parole

A Halifax man who stabbed a taxi driver to death in 2005 has been denied day parole.

Garmen Davison Smith, now 24, was sentenced to life in prison for second-degree murder in the killing of Kenneth Purcell on Christmas Day that year. He stabbed the 62-year-old more than a dozen times in the chest after arguing with him over a $15 fare.

Smith was four months from turning 18 at the time and was sentenced as an adult after a successful application by the Crown.

The Parole Board of Canada said in its decision this week that when Smith first went to a federal prison, he incurred numerous charges for such things as possession of a metal shank, failing to provide a urine sample and being involved in a riot.

His behaviour improved when he was moved to a medium-security facility in 2009, the board said, and he made good progress while participating in several remedial programs. He had three escorted temporary leaves.

Smith refused to live in a less-structured unit at the unspecified prison — which the board said was part of the process to get him to a minimum-security facility — because he believed it was unnecessary for his rehabilitation.

“You are unco-operative and argumentative with your (case management team) and believe you are treated unfairly,” the board wrote. “Another concern is your involvement in a grandstanding incident in front of other offenders wherein you had a verbal confrontation with members of your CMT, which resulted in your segregation placement.”

A subsequent psychological evaluation assessed Smith at a high risk to reoffend in a violent way.

The board also said Smith doesn’t have the support of a halfway house at his preferred destination.

“Notwithstanding the progress achieved in programming, your progress is recent and your case management team believes you need to make efforts in increasing your level of co-operation,” the decision said.

“It is of the opinion that you need to gain credibility (and) cascade to a lower-security institution before it can support you for a day parole release. At this juncture in your sentence, your CMT believes your risk cannot be safely managed on day parole and it is recommending that it be denied.”

The board said it agrees with the case management team’s assessment and “believes the changes you are making must be tested in a less-secure environment over a more protracted period before the board would be satisfied that you could be released on day parole without creating undue risk to society.”